The AAPACN Resident Interview Toolkit helps nursing home staff conduct effective resident interviews as part of the MDS 3.0 assessment process. It provides clear guidance and resources for the entire interdisciplinary team—nurses, dietary managers, social services, activities, and others—to ask residents about their mood, memory, daily routines, and care preferences. …
The beginning of a new school year has a particular energy—fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils, and a renewed focus on learning the essentials. In the long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC) world, we can take a cue from that “back to school” spirit. No matter how long we have been in the …
In this LTC DON Chat podcast episode, Amy Stewart, MSN, RN, DNS-MT, QCP-MT, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, chief nursing officer for AAPACN, and Lauren Stenson, MSN, RN, CNDLTC, QCP, DNS-CT, curriculum development specialist for AAPACN, discuss how nurse leaders can reinforce the clinical fundamentals that form the backbone of safe, high-quality care …
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Empower the whole team with this quick-reference guide designed to build confidence and readiness for the survey process. Survey 101: What Every Staff Member Should Know provides all team members—from nursing to housekeeping—with a clear, high-level overview of how surveys work, how residents are selected for review, and how to …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final version of the RAI User’s Manual, version 1.20.1, which went into effect Oct. 1, 2025. CMS made several changes, including a new definition for a fall, injury (except major), and major injury, which are as follows: This AAPACN resource is …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ultimately chose not to implement MDS section R (Health-Related Social Needs) on Oct. 1, 2025. Each skilled nursing facility (SNF) will have to make an individual decision whether to do off-MDS data collection of the HRSN data that would have been captured …
Memo # QSO-25-26-NH Posting Date 2025-09-29 Fiscal Year 2025 Memorandum Summary CMS is committed to reinvesting civil money penalty (CMP) funds in projects thatsupport nursing home residents and protect or improve their quality of care and life.Therefore, we are updating the Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program (CMPRP), including: • CMPRP Application – CMS …
The NIOSH Personal Protective Equipment and Respirator Approval Program web pages have been updated and moved. These pages provide information about NIOSH Approved® respirators, including how to identify approved products, types of respiratory protection, tips for use, and information for respirator approval holders. Please update your bookmarks to Personal Protective Equipment and Respirator …
Respiratory therapy, coded at O0390D and O0400D, must meet definitions and complex instructions per the Long-Term Care Facility Resident Assessment Instrument 3.0 User’s Manual (RAI User’s Manual). AAPACN’s Respiratory Therapy MDS Coding Checklist tool delineates the requirements to validate that all required aspects have been met before coding the Minimum Data Set …
Question: How do you code walking if the resident only walks with therapy staff? Answer from Jennifer LaBay, RN, RAC-MT, RAC-MTA, QCP, CRC, and Jessie McGill, RN, BSN, RAC-MTA, RAC-CTA: If the resident only walked with therapy, then the assessment for usual performance is based on the resident’s usual performance …
